An adventure in collection, refurbishing, and reselling vintage sewing machines and what is learned along the way.

Friday, October 9, 2015

It's Old and It's New

In an effort to get ready for the first craft fair of the season, only one month away, I've been thinking up ways to make my booth look fresh. Oh, I'll still make some new hot mitts, toaster covers, and tea cozies but along with replenishing my stock, I would like to add a few new items. This year I'll have aprons from men's shirts but I wanted to use some of the vintage fabric I've been collecting. My search on Pinterest for vintage linen had some great ideas and the covers for hangers seemed like a good choice. Just like so many of these little sewing projects, I enjoy putting together the fabric and trims to make a new item almost as much as the actual sewing. I got busy and made the following this week:

Hanger covers in mostly vintage fabrics

This hardly made a dent in my stash so now I'm going to add a few more for a child size hanger:

Child sized hangers, bottom is vintage dresser scarf

Using a serger and sewing machine I've got quite a production line going with serging the outer layer and lining, assembling and pressing, adding the trim with a regular sewing machine, and hand sewing the final bow with button. It always seemed like the outer layer was too large for the lining until I remembered I needed to use an even feed or walking foot. Why does this seem like such a pain? It is only a little bit wider than a regular zig zag foot but in tight places it seems huge. I keep tweaking my technique until I get this down pat but I think I should have three sewing machines set up: serger, sewing machine with a zig zag (for the opening where the hanger hook is inserted), and one with a walking foot for the bottom hem with lace. I do not have a set-up for three machines right now because all of the cabinets are in the garage but one of them is going to be returned to the basement so I can set up another portable.

Which one is coming in for sure? I love the Singer 99 in the combination table and it would give me a nice surface to set up another machine.

Singer 99 with combination table

Singer 99 ready to be removed

But maybe I should bring down one of the beautiful Singer 15's in their Queen Anne cabinets just because they are so nice looking.

Singer #40 table - Queen Anne

A fully loaded Kenmore would be useful, too, but I already have one where the sergers are now set up and used. It might come down to which one I can bring down the stairs by myself. So many choices; why do I want to sell them all? That's right: winter is coming and my car wants to get into the garage!

About Me

How my addiction to vintage sewing machines has grown from refurbishing, to sales, to a repair business. Come along with me as I have learned by doing, making mistakes along the way, taking and teaching classes, all for the love and sense of accomplishment in keeping these ol' gals still running. I think it might be what keeps this ol' gal running, too.